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Reservoir being drained by Meridian

Associated Press
8:07 p.m. CDT July 22, 2014

Children fish near a boat ramp at Long Creek Reservoir Monday. As a result of a leak in the dam and the lack of funds for repairs, Meridian is closing the reservoir.
(Photo:
Michael Stewart/The Meridian Star/AP
)

MERIDIAN – The city of Meridian is draining Long Creek Reservoir after state regulators found the dam structurally unsafe because of a leak.

The Meridian Star reports the city said repairs would cost more than $500,000, and there’s no money available.

Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality spokesman Robbie Wilbur said the city wasn’t told to drain the lake.

“There is a letter from September 2013 that instructs the city to maintain the dam and meet the standards,” Wilbur said.

Richmond L. Alexander with Engineering Plus Inc. in Meridian said because of a high number of dam failures across the country, a federally mandated dam safety program was put into place to help monitor and prevent such failures from happening. He said MDEQ regularly inspects and monitors dams in the state.

“Long Creek Dam simply does not meet current requirements for a High Hazard Dam as mandated by the federal government. As a result, a dam failure could potentially cause a large of amount of downstream flooding, loss of property and life,” Alexander said.

City Public Works Director Hugh Smith said the city is looking for any available funds to make repairs, but grants are not as readily available as they used to be.

“We did not arrive at this juncture without much debate and discussion. The city has been in discussion with MDEQ on this issue for several years, and without the required funding to make mandated repairs, … breaching the dam is the only viable option,” Smith said.